Drought watch declared across Poconos, state

HARRISBURG — State officials on Monday issued a drought watch across most of Pennsylvania, and asked residents to curtail water use while the dryness continues.

MARC LEVY

HARRISBURG — State officials on Monday issued a drought watch across most of Pennsylvania, and asked residents to curtail water use while the dryness continues.

While they say reservoirs appear to be in good shape, farm officials warned that the state's corn crop could sustain significant damage, and weather forecasters said the dry spell should stretch through August.

"For the next month in general, conditions don't look overly good for a wet pattern," said National Weather Service hydrologist Peter Jung in State College.

In declaring the drought watch, the state Department of Environmental Protection cited declining groundwater levels and stream flows after two-month dry stretch that has left many counties more than 4 inches below average rainfall levels.

Dryness has persisted on the East Coast for several months, with the worst spots in the deep south, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. More recently, it has spread north to Pennsylvania.

Northern Pennsylvania has been the hardest hit over the past 90 days. Clinton, Union, Schuylkill and McKean counties are at least 5.5 inches behind average rainfalls over that period through Sunday, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.

Groundwater levels are below average in the southern, western and northern counties, Jung said. Only some of the central and southeastern counties are showing normal groundwater levels, he said.

The good news is that September and October could bring more rainfall, Jung said — although that may not be soon enough for many farmers.

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau said the agency is trying to get a handle on which areas are in the deepest trouble.

"We are in a very critical period over the next few days where rain will either save the day for several crops or not," said spokesman Gary Swan.

In particular, Swan said he believes the state's corn growers could sustain heavy losses.

Jeff Grove of Gro-Lan Farms in Franklin County said he expects a 50 percent loss of the corn crop grown to feed 450 dairy cows.

Some nearby fields are showing no ears of corn at all, which Grove attributed to the dryness while the corn pollinated over the past month.

"Without crop insurance, this is the kind of year that could put you out of business," Grove said.

William Troxell, the executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, said growers will lose some of their crops, especially sweet corn, if they do not have irrigation systems. Snap bean yields were lower than normal during the recent harvest, he said.

A drought watch is the first of Pennsylvania's three drought classifications, and calls for a voluntary 5 percent reduction in water use.

If the dryness continues, a drought warning could follow, calling for a voluntary reduction of 10 percent. A drought emergency comes after that, and mandates that major water users reduce their consumption by 15 percent.